Taunton's annual Earth Day Cleanup slated for April 27

Admirers of the environment in Taunton are encouraged to join in on the tradition of combating litter during the city’s upcoming annual Earth Day Cleanup.

Marc Larocque

Admirers of the environment in Taunton are encouraged to join in on the tradition of combating litter during the city’s upcoming annual Earth Day Cleanup.

The nonprofit Taunton Ecological Awareness Movement is organizing the city’s 23rd annual Earth Day Cleanup, taking place on April 27. The event starts at 8 a.m. behind the historic City Hall building on Summer Street, lasting throughout the morning and early afternoon, with volunteers fanning out to clean up targeted areas of the community, organizers said.

“It really is a community effort,” said LeeAnn Tavares, an organizer for the Taunton Ecological Awareness Movement. “I’m just so happy to be part of it for so long. The volunteers are really into it. People want to help. Yes, it’s only one day a year, but if we can get that much done in a short period of time, it just shows you what a relatively small group of people can do together.”

Tavares said that over the years the Earth Day Cleanup has become a teaching moment, in the sense that parents have taught their children about protecting the environment and vice versa.

“We’ve been doing this so long we now have kids that started out with us, that are now bringing their kids,” Tavares said. “It’s a multigenerational kind of event. It’s wonderful. People call every year, saying, ‘Yep, I’ll be taking this street,’ or, ‘I’ll be going here.’ We have our regulars. It’s nice to see them year after year.”

Tavares said she is “very proud” that the annual cleanup has been going on for so long.

One of the co-founders of the environmentally friendly event, Tavares approached the Taunton Mayor’s Office 24 years ago about whether the city had its own Earth Day Cleanup. She was referred to a local group called Citizens for Recycling, including volunteer Carol Roy, who was promoting a recycling program in Taunton.